Lesvos

Ulesses (Odysseus) king of Ithaca, Menelaos king of Sparta and Diomidis met in Lesvos after
the Trojan war, to organise their journey back home. Lesvos was always reffered to as the island
of artists. Alkaeos, Sappho and Arion were great musicians and poets from Lesvos.

In 479 B.C. the island was liberated from Persian yoke and joined the Athenian League. In the
4th century Macedonians of Meghas Alexandros occupied the island. The natives joined the rest
greek forces and participated in the expedition of Alexander the Great.

During the years of Eastern Empire, Lesvos was a land for exile. But often was ravaged by
barbarian, mainly Saracene raids. Following the fate of Constantinople, after the fall of 1204,
the island was ceded to count Baldwin of Flandra. In 1355, Francisco Gattelusio owned the island.

In 1462, Ottomans under Mohamet invaded the island, which stayed under turkish yoke until 1912,
when greek navy liberated it. We must mention, that in 1821, Papanikolis set fir with his
fireship (mpourloto) to a huge turkish warship, in the Eressos bay.